According to SportVU, the Blazers ranked 26th in pick-and-roll defense through Monday’s games and are up to 22nd after a game against the reeling Hawks on Wednesday. They’ve allowed 1.06 points per pick-and-roll possession overall, even though they’ve been pretty good when Lopez has been the guy defending the screener, allowing just 1.01. That ranks 55th among 134 players who had been the screener’s defender on at least 200 pick-and-roll possessions through Wednesday. Not great, but above-average.

Note: All stats included here are through Wednesday, March 5.

But near the bottom of the list is Lopez’s frontcourt-mate, LaMarcus Aldridge. The Blazers have allowed 1.17 points per possession when Aldridge has been the guy defending the screener. Of those 134 players who have defended at least 200 pick-and-roll possessions, only one – Trevor Booker – has a higher mark (1.18).

The discrepancy between Lopez’s and Aldridge’s numbers is rather remarkable, because both bigs basically defend pick-and-rolls the same way (though Portland will mix things up a little with Aldridge). While the Pacers drop back with their centers and show high with their power forwards, both Aldridge (most of the time) and Lopez drop back…

Who are they guarding?

Is it a power forward vs. center thing? The players Aldridge is guarding (Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, etc.) are generally more potent offensively than those Lopez is guarding. And the biggest difference in Aldridge and Lopez’s numbers is the field goal percentage that the screener has shot when he has got the ball…

When the starting power forwards from the other top 10 teams in the West have defended the screener on a pick-and-roll, the opponent has scored 1.02 points per possession. And when the starting centers on those same teams have defended the screener, the opponent has scored 1.02 points per possession. No discrepancy at all.

The Suns’ pick-and-roll defense has been slightly better when Miles Plumlee has defended the screener than when Channing Frye has, and the same goes for the Warriors, Andrew Bogut and David Lee. But none of the other nine teams has nearly the difference that we see with the Blazers.

The eye test

Watching film, Aldridge doesn’t come across as a noticeably bad pick-and-roll defender. He’s usually in the right position, he doesn’t get caught standing still, or get turned around and lost on possessions (like a couple of bigs in New York).

The Blazers track every defensive possession themselves and say that Aldridge grades out closer the league average on pick-and-rolls (and that Lopez still grades out as better). And when we look at the 57 percent that the screener has shot on Aldridge-defended pick-and-rolls, we’re only talking about 132 shots, not the greatest sample size.

But Synergy Sports grades him as “poor” in regard to defending the roll man. And it’s not hard to find examples (via NBA.com/stats video boxscores) where he fails to close out and lets an opposing big shoot in rhythm…

You can also find examples of him closing out fine, but other West power forwards grade out better via SportVU. The screener takes more shots and shoots them better against Aldridge than any of the other nine guys listed below (from the other West teams at or above .500), even though they’ve all had to defend Aldridge himself, who has attempted almost 200 more mid-range shots than any other player in the league.

Pick-and-roll defense, West power forwards

Defender

Scr.

Poss

Opp PTS

PTS/Poss

Rk

S FGM

S FGA

S FG%

Rk

LaMarcus Aldridge

734

703

826

1.17

10

75

132

56.8%

10

Tim Duncan

849

817

854

1.05

8

42

96

43.8%

4

Channing Frye

729

698

755

1.08

9

39

96

40.6%

2

Blake Griffin

925

896

935

1.04

7

46

91

50.5%

7

Serge Ibaka

733

706

687

0.97

2

32

71

45.1%

5

Terrence Jones

584

561

560

1.00

4

30

72

41.7%

3

David Lee

657

629

592

0.94

1

31

77

40.3%

1

Kevin Love

638

609

593

0.97

3

38

71

53.5%

9

Dirk Nowitzki

668

645

659

1.02

5

44

85

51.8%

8

Zach Randolph

794

767

788

1.03

6

48

98

49.0%

6

Right shots, wrong results

Again, we’re only looking at 132 of the 5,350 shots that Portland opponents have attempted this season. And the Blazers do force the right shots.

In part, that goes back to their pick-and-roll defense. Not only do the bigs drop back (which means that ball-handlers don’t have to pick up their dribble and make a pass as often), but the guards (especially Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews) don’t apply much pressure up front and can get caught on those screens. No Blazer ranks in the top 80 in steals per game.

Still, the Blazers are OK when Lopez defends pick-and-rolls. And it may be that his ability to stop the ball-handler and stay in contact with the roll man that allows his teammates to better defend their own guys. If Aldridge is a step slower, that can have a domino effect two or three passes away.

Trending up?

The Blazers actually have the No. 1 defense since the All-Star break. That number has been schedule-aided though, as they’ve played the Jazz, Lakers, Hawks, and two games against the depleted Nuggets. It also may have been aided by Aldridge’s absence in the first five post-break games, as they found some defensive success playing smaller and quicker.

Aldridge is back and we’re going to find out if the Portland defense is really improved over the next 10 days, when five of their six games are against teams that rank in the top 12 offensively (and the other is against the improved Grizzlies).

A five-game trip begins against the fourth-ranked Dallas offense on Friday and we’ll see how well Aldridge contests Nowitzki.

7 Comments

Based on the clips provided of the people LA guards. LA really does have terrible pick and roll defensive fundamentals.
1) He backs way off his man, too far. 2) He is back pedaling while the guard is making a play which puts LA at a huge disadvantage to get back to his man 3) In my opinion, most importantly, his defensive stance doesn’t exist. When you are standing practically straight up with your legs locked, how are you supposed to make any quick reactions on defense?

If he would get in a stance like Lopez is shown doing, then I’m sure his defense would improve.

The Portland Trailblazers have become a very good team. And I’m happy that Damien Lillard and Lamarcus Aldridge got their well deserved All-Star props/recognition last month. But my mind keeps reflecting back to last fall, early in the season, when the Portland Trailblazers were the #1 seed in the West, and I read LOTS of comments like: “they will not keep up their standing, they need a better bench, they overkill their starting 5, they don’t have playoff experience”. Those comments were all correct. You guys are so smart!

Chris Bosh is one of the greatest players in the league, Aldridge isn’t an All Star in my opinion.Portland’s PnR defense is a problem for LaMarcus no wonder the Heat beat them without Lebron but if LaMarcus really wants a ring he has to join ‘LeBron” the King of miami, they could trade “Chuck” Norris Cole and Greg oden. imagine that, awesome comeback in portland for oden ready for a legacy will lillard and cole..so swaggy and for the heat you have
-chalmers
-wade
-james
-bosh
-alridge

I didn’t even look at any of the comments on here, the answer is yes. Bosh scored like 37 points on him, no wonder the Heat beat them without Lebron. Aldridge isn’t an All Star in my opinion because of it, i am sorry Blazer fans, that is the ugly truth.

Chris Bosh is one of the greatest players in the league, seems a bit normal that he sometimes has great games. If Durant scores 40 vs Lebron, does that make Lebron a weak defender? It’s easy to find something bad on any player in the league. Aldridge is a very deserving All Star, and that’s the beautiful truth.

Hi John,
do you think it would make sense to compare the number of 3 Pointers attempted against Aldridge and Lopez? (And for the other couples as well)
It really seems like Portland’s scheme doesn’t make LMA look good when he has to defend stretch fours.
So in reality, it might be that Portland’s PnR defense is a problem for LaMarcus – and not vice versa